Complaint Review: County Sherriff Dept

Thanks you tim for your response to lorraine about my ripoff report.

concerning the building in my backyard one is furnished ad set up as living and entertainment quarters, the other is also for living quarters that is now in the process of renovation but contains furniture such as beds, couches, table, chairs etc.

these building do contain locks although we do not lock them so you see a search warrant would have been sufficient. as i said before the police dept. still had no rteason to search without permission, because they had been told before hand that my son was no here. He was not even in the state of alabama.

Lorraine, I hope that you are not in law enforcement, because your understanding of the warrant requirement and probable cause searches is incorrect.

An arrest warrant is not a license to skirt the warrant requirement in searches of homes. A search of a home for a fugitive, absent a search warrant, is only permissible if the police are in "hot pursuit" (meaning that they actually chased the person from outside into the house) or if an emergency is presented (such as probable cause to believe that the fugitive is armed and will injure the occupants).

Simple probable cause to belive that a fugitive is in a home is not sufficient. If the officers did not have a warrant to search the home, proper procedure would have been to station an officer outside the home until a warrant could be obtained.

As for the outside areas of the property, you are correct. There is no expectation of privacy in your yard (except for the "curtilage" of the home).

As for out buildings, this is slightly more complicated, but the normal rules still apply. If the home owner has an expectation of privacy in the out buildings, such as could be evidenced by locked doors, then a warrant would most likely be required.

The warrant requirement is one of the most important features of American law. While several exceptions exist, the sanctity of privacy in the home is still highly protected.

thank you for your response to my situation let me explain the person my daughter associated with was her brother. the law officers had already been told by the father that her brother my son was already locked up and he told them where, they could have called that town and verified what he had told them. but they insisted on a search anyway. It is hard not to associate or have contact with a family member.

understand this is not an angry response because what you are saying is true. But if they would have check out what the dad had told them the search would not have been necessary.

thank you for your response to my situation let me explain the person my daughter associated with was her brother. the law officers had already been told by the father that her brother my son was already locked up and he told them where, they could have called that town and verified what he had told them. but they insisted on a search anyway. It is hard not to associate or have contact with a family member.

understand this is not an angry response because what you are saying is true. But if they would have check out what the dad had told them the search would not have been necessary.

thank you for your response to my situation let me explain the person my daughter associated with was her brother. the law officers had already been told by the father that her brother my son was already locked up and he told them where, they could have called that town and verified what he had told them. but they insisted on a search anyway. It is hard not to associate or have contact with a family member.

understand this is not an angry response because what you are saying is true. But if they would have check out what the dad had told them the search would not have been necessary.

thank you for your response to my situation let me explain the person my daughter associated with was her brother. the law officers had already been told by the father that her brother my son was already locked up and he told them where, they could have called that town and verified what he had told them. but they insisted on a search anyway. It is hard not to associate or have contact with a family member.

understand this is not an angry response because what you are saying is true. But if they would have check out what the dad had told them the search would not have been necessary.

I don't see where the Sheriff's Dept. did anything wrong here Calvina. They were looking for someone who had broken the law that obviously you and your daughter are associated with. The officers went to your daughter's home and asked permission to look inside. It seems the children at home said no. At that point the officers left and probably got a search warrant (that is not always needed if they have probable cause to believe the person was hiding inside the home), then entered the home to see if the person they were looking for was hiding there. This is normal police procedure when they are looking for someone who has a warrant out for their arrest.

While it is sad the kids were upset by this, it would never have happened if your daughter didn't associate with people who break the law. Hopefully the kids learned a good lesson from this .. don't break the law or hang out with people who do and you won't have the cops come search your home.

You went on to complain about the officers looking around your back yard. This is perfectly legal. You have no valid complaint against them for searching your yard and looking into any outbuildings.

You should be very thankful that the person the officers were seeking was NOT at either of your homes. If s/he would have been, you could have been arrested and charged with harboring a fugative from justice.